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Perfect Day in Peacham, VT

We’d heard Peacham, Vermont was considered one of the most picturesque villages in Vermont, so we had to go see for ourselves. What we found was indeed picturesque, I shot gigs of photos, but we found more. It was a real place with real people and a real history. Only one small negative did we find: a couple from San Diego moved there, bought the general store, and filled it with, what I’m sure they think is quaint, and made it a tourist attraction, but even they were nice, and no doubt mellowed by Peacham.

What happens when you try and cheat: Claire threw leaves in front of my camera, for an attempt at that windblown leaf look. Somehow it doesn’t quite work.

After an afternoon exploring, we decided we’d give Pecham a whole day in our rushed desperately-seeking-color-tour, to relax, take a bike ride and, since my camera never lets me rest for long, take pictures. The afternoon was sunny, and nearly 80 degrees, something locals had never seen before, since more of their memories of this time of year involved rain and snow and wind, they were all in a great mood.

Bob, who cooked the spaghetti dinner sauce for at least three days, entertained us with Pecham stories and history, between stirring the sauce and organizing the next night’s church basement dinner. We were so impressed with his sauce that he invited us to spend the night parked in the meeting house (what they call a church hereabouts) so we could go to the dinner. We never turn down a free place to park, and that sauce did smell great.

Cowbells, bluejays and crows awakened us the next morning to another, even warmer, day. After a walk in the cemetery, or was that the day before, anyway a walk and pictures, we unloaded the mountain bikes and headed up a gravel road looking for color. We found some, and an intriguing sign leading to a pond (small lake hereabouts) and there we found great color, a loon and a local girl out for a kayak tour of the pond. It would have been a perfect boondock spot, but we already had a good one, right in the middle of the village.

After the dinner was over, and Bob had refused our offer of cleanup duty, we reluctently drove off into the main road crazy leaf peeping traffic to seek a Wal*Mart closer to our next destination, Green Mountain National Forest.